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Director of Communications/ Community Engagement
Portland Public Schools - Oregon
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Reorganized a department bereft of leadership for more than two years, resulting in bringing budgetary outlays into line, assessment-based personnel re-assignments, codifying day-to-day procedures, and maximizing existing media opportunities such as the district-run television station and web site.
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Advised and coached senior leadership across the district on media matters and interviews.
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Crafted, and directed crisis communications, including strategies to diffuse hostile press relations for more equitable and favorable coverage.
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Instituted staff training measures and cultivated relationships with neglected communities to create new stakeholders and forge stronger partnerships.
English Instructor
Norfolk (Va.) Academy
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Helped develop mastery of writing, reading comprehension, research, and analytical thinking for ninth-graders through classic texts, artistic exploration, and experiential learning.
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Collaborated with library, computer, and arts instructors to craft rich, relevant assignments for contemporary times -- from assessing the validity of internet content during research to creating video presentations to interpreting a novel through mural or comic book creation.
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Sample approach to conventional study: using J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye as the basis for a First Amendment research and presentation project, requiring students to establish community standards for obscenity, debate them and the merits of book banning in a mock appellate court. .
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Advised the middle school multicultural affairs club and advised administration on communications matters.
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